Our hobby is in danger again!

[natereinhold1]

I don't disagree with the bill, just it could be a little less "iron fist". Technically, all humans other than the native americans should be illegal to be here. We have been the most invasive speices introduced to america, which is the root of all of this. If we were not here there wouldn't have been any importation of non-native species, but we are here and the ecosystem has adapted to it, as it will for the other critters that have been introduced. Heck, most islands like madagascar, is made up of ALL non-native speices and it seem to do fine, albeit hundreds of years later. I do have to side with Darwin on this one a bit, strongest survives. Its sad, but if we protect every speices, will will not have room for anything, in Illinois the rabit population declined fiercely, so they over hunted coyote to bring back the population of rabbits, which in turn lead to an over population in white tail deer which in a round about way with the new prosses for checking in a deer when you kill it during season, somewhat promotes poaching to the un-truthfull. I guess all my rant is about is that nature will run it's course no matter what, and when the Earth is a giant ball of ice in 20000 years none of this will matter.

 

[KDDG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14749749#post14749749 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by salty joe
This will hurt everyone in the exotic pet industry from the pet stores, wholesalers, importers, skimmer manufactures, reptile lighting manufacturing and all points in between. A lot of people will lose their jobs. The timing couldn't be worse. That's all we need right now is more government regulation. Without a doubt, there will be unintended consequences and they won't be good. Organized defiance is what we need. The easy thing to do is nothing. Sheep do nothing. It's too bad that our hobby has become political, but if we do nothing were done.

Thanks for posting that LauraCline. If we don't make some noise on this one, our hobby will be decimated. I am definitely going to start making phone calls and shooting e-mails to voice my intense opposition to yet another government intrusion into my life. Thanks again for posting that here on reef Central.
Joe

+1. The worst things are done with the best intentions. When you don't like something, speak up. It is imperative to our future.

 

[ReefEnabler]

At least they put this provision into the bill in section 3f

(f) Animals Owned Lawfully Prior to Prohibition of Importation- This Act and regulations issued under this Act shall not interfere with the ability of any person to possess an individual animal of any species if such individual animal was legally owned by the person before the risk assessment is begun pursuant to subsection (e)(3), even if such species is later prohibited from being imported under the regulations issued under this Act.

I agree there is a need for better control of invasive species... but the "not allowed unless expressly permitted" mindset is going to cause lots of headaches.

 

[rhoptowit]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14750639#post14750639 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ooba
Guam? we have representatives from Guam? Man, I need to pay better attention. I had no idea we still had possession fo the philipines. boo me.

are you implying that Guam is part of the Philippines? cuz its not.

 

[heap]

dunno about the bill, but for the curious - yes, guam has non-voting 'delegates' in the house, as well other US 'protectorate' & territories. they cannot vote yea/nay on legislation, but can vote within committees. (which is where this legislation currently is - i don't know how likely it'd be to pass committee)

 

[nchin3]

Well again thaks for the post.

 

[AuroraDrvr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14752989#post14752989 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RichConley
his oscar/peacock bass is already causing problems in florida.

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Comm. released the Peacock, in attempts to control invasive species.

 

[Aquabucket]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14755653#post14755653 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AuroraDrvr
The Florida Fish & Wildlife Comm. released the Peacock, in attempts to control invasive species.

They introduced the peacock as a sport fish to help gain revenue which in turn would be used to help control other invasives.

 

[noahm]

The 'opt in' language requiring proving it safe before it goes on the list is simply unattainable. It is a noble idea to curb pest importation, but the way this is written is financially impossible to fund to facilitate researching every species of critter for compatibility in a timely fashion.
There simply needs to be a grandfather clause wherein a current catalog of existing foreign species would be automatically put on the list (unless already considered a pest/invasive species), then a review done on new imports only. Obviously a grandfathered species could be reclassified off the list if it shows problems. This would prevent a giant backlog of review cases and a veritable standstill in the pet trade.

The alternative is to allow the current wording to apply, with a 2 year moratorium wherin the gov't would be required to review the current foreign species before the law took effect. If it did not get reviewed it would automatically go on the ok list. This would force them to prioritize the review process according to perceived risk.

As it is, this bill will never pass.

 

[AuroraDrvr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14754012#post14754012 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mcliffy2
Yes, I love my fish, but at the same time, I can't deny the environmental harm that fish collecting causes, especially practices such as dynamite and cyanide fishing. I would love it if more captive bred species were available.

If the United States bans the importation of tropical fish, do you really think it will stop the collectors from using bad practices?

No, it will not. They'll ship them to Europe or Asia.

 

[AuroraDrvr]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14755660#post14755660 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Aquabucket
They introduced them as a sport fish to help gain revenue which in turn would be used to help control other invasives.

The sport fishing was a side benefit. Not the main intent of release.

http://www.southfloridapeacockbass.com/info.html

 

[Orin]

The bill would utterly destroy the reef hobby if it were to go through. Anyone raising corals could be put in prison for up to five years per frag (or per tulip anenome) if that species isn't on the approved list. Live rock from overseas would certainly be illegal since you can't identify every animal and even if you could it's unlikely they'd all be on the approved list. 'Someone' is required to pay for each species put on the list so few marine fish would make it to the list even if they could be approved (at least goldfish are there already).

According to PIJAC's website, the Humane Society and The Nature Conservancy are the main organizations pushing this legislation without any modification. It's interesting the organizations that likely receive most of their donations from animal lovers push legislation designed to make many animal lovers federal criminals.

 

[Aquabucket]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14755680#post14755680 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AuroraDrvr
The sport fishing was a side benefit. Not the main intent of release.

http://www.southfloridapeacockbass.com/info.html

With-out the sport fishing aspect these fish would never have been released. The fact is they are an invasive species and compete with desired native sport species which dwindled to very low levels. The FFW made the decision that it would be easier to have the peacock as a dominant sport fish in these areas and heavily promoted it.

Its not the first time the FFW released a non-native fish in large amounts. The mosquito fish was introduced to control mosquitoes but that turned out to be a big mistake as they destroyed large populations of a native killifish that have a much more voracious appetite for mosquito larvae.

 

[Dweezle]

Yet another ham-fisted solution by our gov. Instead of focusing resourses on the few spec and areas where action is needed, we come up more all inclusive legislation that creates more problems than it fixes. I'm running out of hobbies for them to screw up.

Recently, to curb the flow of lead tainted toys from china, they pass a law requiring strict lead content standards for anything designed for children under 14 without exemption. This is killing my other hobby of motocross as you can no longer sell vehicals or parts for children sized bikes/quads for fear that lil' jonny might chew on a battery terminal of valve stem and be poisoned.

And where are we coming up with the money to fund this tripe? Oh yeah, we'll just print as much as we need......

 

[ReefEnabler]

Yes I love how even small mom and pop shops who manufacture natural products will still have to have their products tested for lead etc.... even if they are using 100% wood in the product.... Asinine!

 

[Squidward5]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14749749#post14749749 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by salty joe
This will hurt everyone in the exotic pet industry from the pet stores, wholesalers, importers, skimmer manufactures, reptile lighting manufacturing and all points in between. A lot of people will lose their jobs. The timing couldn't be worse. That's all we need right now is more government regulation. Without a doubt, there will be unintended consequences and they won't be good. Organized defiance is what we need. The easy thing to do is nothing. Sheep do nothing. It's too bad that our hobby has become political, but if we do nothing were done.

Thanks for posting that LauraCline. If we don't make some noise on this one, our hobby will be decimated. I am definitely going to start making phone calls and shooting e-mails to voice my intense opposition to yet another government intrusion into my life. Thanks again for posting that here on reef Central.
Joe

+2

 

[hotrodolds]

the caribean is gonna get ravaged from this. The entire us saltwater hobby would have to supported by the carribean fishes instead of spread out over the whole of the oceans.

 

[LauraCline]

TTT

 

[Kemo484]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14761151#post14761151 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hotrodolds
the caribean is gonna get ravaged from this. The entire us saltwater hobby would have to supported by the carribean fishes instead of spread out over the whole of the oceans.

I couldn't agree more. I also think there would be a spike in illegal collecting withing the US and start to see alot of North Americas nondomesticated species being housed as pets.

 

[blennymower]

Politicians are freakin' idiots...bottom line.

Protection against invasive species should be left to the states like in the case of florida where bans and permits can be issued, for CERTAIN animals, e.g. pirahnas.

I can assume that a lot if not all of the politicians voting for this probably won't even read it, and like always the unintended consequences will be a heavy burden.

The impact on pet businesses could be huge.